to be very suprised at the school letter about Halal meat?

[fromparistoberlin]

opended DS bag and read a letter with a voting slip basically saying

alot of parents have asked for Halal meat (fair enough)
The school dinner providers can only do Halal OR non-Halal (erm we are in London, slightly surpised)

so we either vote for ALL Halal, or non Halal

so basically an ethical dilemna!

Vote A, feel like a bigot

Vote B, feel slightly uncomfortable that something I dont really fully understand is being imposed

I am going to write and say this is a really unfair way to handle it and they should fucking change suppliers, we are in London FFS

nice little ethical mind fuck THANKS school!

whatam did the community say they want solely halal or did the school?

is vegi not a specific requirement governed by beliefs? so why should that be provided then?

Well that's respectful

it turned nasty when the go to your own country stuff came up ffs,

but anyway the school is sending out a survey, it is not implementing it. They had pressure to find out what could be done they are exploring options to find out if people will be happy or not, is that not catering for everyone? if they find out people are not happy they wont do it. So how is it not catering for everyone?

fanjo i am used to it from mumsnet.

ALL children should be allowed to eat meat and Halal caters for EVERYONE. Children don't know the difference. As long as meat is safe and good quality I don't see what parents have a problem with. Muslim children won't be able to eat non halal meats but other children can eat either so I don't think it's fair at all. Halal meet should be used.

it's just a different method of slaughter, I can't decide which way is more cruel as it is all cruel. As regards religion - is it really anything to do with religion dictating the Halal method or did people just slaughter their livestock in the way they felt was best and then that method was accepted as being the best method and then given a religious slant to ensure that people carried out a standard practice? anyone know?

Personally I would vote for non halal for two reasons. First I don't like the way the animals are slaughtered, just my opinion. Two: as far as im aware (please correct me if this is wrong, im not muslim) the muslim children would be permitted to eat the non halal food if there is nothing else available. It is one of the only times they would be allowed to eat non halal without it going against their religion. Also if the parents would rather their kids didn't have it anyway they could always send a pack lunch?

Can I ask a question about Halal certification? Our local school says its meat is Halal certified. My friend (Muslim) has a son who attends and isn't happy with the certification she school uses as it's not one she recognises. He eats veggie at school as a result. Is this a common problem or might the local school (academy) just using a cheapo option?

All our local schools are 100% Halal and have been for as long as I can remember.

Sorry just to add, I personally don't agree with chelseaknows about halal catering for everyone. I am Christian and the idea of food I'm eating being killed in the name of another religions god and blessed as such makes me uncomfortable. I would not want to eat halal meat for this reason so halal does not cater for everyone in my opinion.

I do know we are allowed to eat halal meat in the Christian religion but the idea doesn't sit well with me personally.

Heffalump, can't you bless the food yourself before you eat it?

Also this first I don't like the way the animals are slaughtered, just my opinion doesn't make sense if you are a meat eater anyway!

Heffalump, far as I'm aware, muslims worship the God of Abraham. So that would be the same God for Christians, jews and muslims right?

But it has been killed in the name of Allah, not my God or none? It's just my personal feeling, nothing against anyone else's opinion/beliefs. Fair enough, i just feel uncomfortable about an animal having its throat slit and hung to drain. I can't explain why it's worse because it's been done like that, it's just my gut feeling is to be a little repulsed to be honest.

and if you believe there's just the one god then surely none of the others exist and anyhing said to zeus or the spegetti monster is just words?

Allah is the Arabic word meaning god. Christian Arabs say Allah. Cos its arabic for god.

Like i said I'm not muslim by the way and I'm no expert on religion! So sorry if I don't have all the facts straight!!

There was an excellent documentary on this very topic the other night. I'm usually as thick as a plank

Also this first I don't like the way the animals are slaughtered, just my opinion doesn't make sense if you are a meat eater anyway!

^
This

Im sure halal was just fine when u went on holiday or stumbled out a pub drunk and went for a kebab or subway.

It just seems a bit late to be caring. Especially when cheap meat in schools and hospitals etc is about as unethical as you can get.

Where I work children can chose between meat (non Halal), vegetarian or Halal - any child can chose any of the meals. Children chose on a day by day basis each morning. (Also a packed lunch option)
The catering company cater for most of the LEA schools round here - no idea if smae policy, I assume so?

So unless a person is fine to eat halal they are predjudiced? Seems a bit harsh. As far as I was aware it was my choice whether I want to eat it or not, and my personal choice is I would rather not. I don't understand why that is so bad. I'm not telling anyone else what they should or shouldn't do.

missbetsy I explained that a little while ago, there are two halal certification bodies HFA and HMC, HMC doesnt stun meat HFA does so some people don't eat HFA meat.

Heffalump Allah means THE deity/God. Christians in Arab countries also call God Allah. Bismillah means in the name of The God.

one of the ones on sky that come after the music channels. Documentaries? It was about Jerusalem and how its important to all 3 faiths as they all sprung from Abraham.